In fact, Chen claimed the WHO ignored Taiwan's warnings in order to maintain its relationship with China, whose communist government demands the international community not acknowledge Taiwan's sovereignty.

For all that, Taiwan's performance is remarkable. Even more remarkable is that the country is not a member of the World Health Organisation. The simple reason is that a bullying China refuses it entry. It may not even attend the World Health Assembly, the who's decision-making forum, as an observer. When Taiwan wrote to the WHO in late December asking whether there was human-to-human transmission in the virus outbreak in Wuhan, the WHO, the body now admits, did not reply.

Taiwan's fight against COVID-19 has shown that it can cope outside the WHO, even if there is a cost. But its exclusion causes wider damage. Taiwan's early understanding of the threat of the coronavirus could have given others advance warning. Taiwan's inability to disseminate its findings cost lives.